Footwear Having Removable Attachment-Point Strip

ABSTRACT

Provided are, among other things, an item of footwear that includes a sole and an upper attached to the sole, with the upper including a left strip and a right strip, each having a plurality of attachment points for use in tightening the upper, and with the entire left strip and the entire right strip capable of being quickly and easily detached from and reattached to the upper.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to shoes, boots and other kinds offootwear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a right-side elevational view of a shoe having a removableeyelet strip according to a representative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2A is a front elevational view of a laced shoe having a pair ofremovable eyelet strips, according to a representative embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2B is a front elevational view of a replacement strip that includesboth left-side and right-side strips in a unitary piece, according to arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a right-side elevational view of a boot having a removableeyelet strip according to a representative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a right-side elevational view of a boot with itsattachment-point strip removed and with a choice of attaching either oftwo different styles of eyelet strip or a hook strip, according to arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partially exploded view of a portion of a shoe having atightening strap and a pair of removable attachment-point strips withslots, according to a representative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of a shoe having a tighteningstrap and a pair of removable attachment-point strips with slots,according to a representative embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

The present invention generally pertains to footwear that has removableand/or replaceable strips of attachment points for use in tightening thearticle of footwear. In several of the embodiments discussed below, suchattachment points are eyelets through which a shoe lace may be threaded.However, various other kinds of attachment points instead may be used,as discussed in more detail below. Moreover, replacement strips can havedifferent kinds of attachment points than the attachment points on anexisting (currently attached) strip, so that the wearer can decideexactly how he or she would like to tighten his or her article offootwear (e.g., based on functional and/or aesthetic considerations).

FIG. 1 illustrates a shoe 10 according to a representative embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown, shoe 10 includes a sole 12 (with aseparately extending heel 13) and an upper 14. The sole 12 can be anyconventional shoe sole. However, unlike conventional shoes, the upper 14is provided with a fully removable and replaceable eyelet strip 20. Inthe present embodiment, eyelet strip 20 attaches to the remainder ofupper 14 along the entire length of eyelet strip 20 by a zipper 22.

Accordingly, by simply using zipper tab 24 to slide zipper slide 26 allthe way down, eyelet strip 20 can be fully separated from the rest ofupper 14. Then, a tab at the bottom of the portion of zipper 22 oneyelet strip 20 is simply inserted into the corresponding opening in thetop of zipper slide 26, and zipper tab 24 and slide 26 are slid upwardly(in the conventional manner for engaging a zipper), in order to reattacheyelet strip 20 to the rest of upper 14.

As shown in FIG. 1, eyelet strip 20 includes a number of individualeyelets 28 through which a shoe lace 30 (as shown in FIG. 2A) may bethreaded for lacing up the shoe 10. Preferably, eyelet strip 20 includesa minimum of 2-5 eyelets 28. More generally, an attachment-point stripaccording to the present invention preferably includes a minimum ofattachment points, although as described below, in certain embodimentsan attachment-point strip according to the present invention sometimesincludes only a single attachment point.

In the preferred embodiments of the invention, the left side view ofshoe 10 is the mirror image of the right side illustrated in FIG. 1.Thus, as shown in FIG. 2A, both the left eyelet strip 32 and the righteyelet strip 20 are capable of being removed from and then reattachedonto shoe 10. More preferably, both such eyelet strips 20 and 32 areremovable/replaceable in exactly the same manner (e.g., using a zipper22 in the present embodiment). In addition, as also shown in FIG. 2A,the eyelet strips 32 and 20 can be removed and replaced with one or moreother eyelet strips or, more generally, other attachment-point strips.

For example, eyelet strips 32 and 20 can be replaced with an eyeletstrip 35 (shown in FIG. 2B) that includes both left-side and right-sidestrips, each having three eyelets 28, connected together by a bottomsection 37. In alternate embodiments, a unitary eyelet strip, such aseyelet strip of 35, can have the left-side and right-side stripsconnected together by a top section instead of, or in addition to,bottom section 37.

In either case, the connecting section(s) (e.g., section 37) also can beprovided with an attachment mechanism (e.g., a zipper or a pair ofhigh-density hook-and-loop fastening elements, such as is commonly soldunder the brand name Velcro™) for attaching to the shoe's upper. Also,the types of attachment points provided on any replacement strip can bedifferent than the types of attachment points provided on an existingstrip, as discussed in more detail below.

FIG. 3 illustrates a boot 40 that is provided with a sole 42 (having aseparately extending heel 43), upper 44, and removable eyelet strip 50attached to the rest of upper 44 using a zipper 52 (i.e., by usingzipper tab 54 to manipulate zipper slide 56), with eyelet strip 50including a number of individual eyelets 58. Once again, the left sideelevational view of boot 40 preferably is the mirror image of the rightside elevational view shown in FIG. 3. In fact, the only significantdifference in the two embodiments is that eyelet strip 50 generally willbe significantly longer (and include more eyelets) than eyelet strip 20(meaning that zipper 52 also is correspondingly longer than zipper 22).

Generally speaking, in accordance with the present invention, either oneor both of the eyelet strips for a given article of footwear (e.g., asingle boot or shoe) may be readily removable. In addition, removableeyelet strip(s) according to the present invention may be used on anykind of footwear, although they are preferred for use on outdoorfootwear, such as ordinary walking shoes or athletic shoes.

It is noted that in the embodiments described above, both the left andright eyelet strips are readily removable and re-attachable. However, inalternate embodiments only one side or the other is quickly and easilyremovable/re-attachable, and the eyelet strip on the other side ispermanently attached to the rest of the corresponding upper. Theexpression “permanently attached” is intended to mean stitched, glued orin some other way attached where the removal and/or re-attachment is notquick and/or easy.

The use of a zipper 22 or 52 in the above embodiments of the inventionallows such quick and easy removal and re-attachment. A pair ofhigh-density hook-and-loop fastening elements can be used in place of azipper to also permit quick and easy removal and re-attachment. Forexample, an element having high-density hooks may be permanentlyattached to the upper and an element having high-density loops may bepermanently attached to the removable eyelet strip, or vice versa.Similarly, a variety of other structures (e.g., using hooks, clips,snaps or the like) also can be used for this purpose.

One feature of the present invention is that one or both of the eyeletstrips on a shoe can be readily removed and replaced. As a result, asillustrated in FIG. 4, by maintaining a variety of differentinterchangeable attachment-point strips, e.g., eyelet strips 50 and 60and hook strip 70, each having a different style but the same (or atleast a compatible) attachment mechanism, the wearer can change theaesthetic appearance or even functional aspects of his or her shoes whenand as desired. Typically, such interchangeable attachment-point stripsare approximately the same length, but may have different decorativepatterns, textures and/or colors (i.e., different style elements fordifferent looks and/or feels) and/or may have different kinds ofattachment points (i.e., different functional elements). As to thelatter, as already noted, strips 50 and 60 include a number of eyelets58 through which a shoe lace may be threaded. On the other hand, strip70 includes a number of hooks 72, such as the kinds of hooks often foundon hiking boots, around which a shoe lace may be looped.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a shoe 100 according to an alternate embodimentof the present invention. Here, the right-side attachment-point strip120 includes a single slot 122 and the left-side attachment-point strip130 includes two slots 122, with the slots 122 functioning as attachmentpoints. In this embodiment, however, rather than using a shoe lace, theshoe upper 104 is tightened using a strap 110 that includes an anchor112 at its proximal end and an attachment mechanism 114 at its distalend. In the present example, attachment mechanism 114 is a high-densityhook or loop fastening element, with element 116 being the matingelement. However, in alternate embodiments the attachment mechanism 114may include, e.g., a snap, a hook, a buckle or any other availableattachment mechanism, with element 116 again being the appropriatemating element.

In the present embodiment, each of attachment-point strips 120 and 130is attached to the inner surface of the upper 104 using a pair ofhigh-density hook-and-loop fastening elements. Thus, for example,attachment-point strip 120 has a high-density hook or loop fasteningelement 124, with its functional portion facing upwardly, and the innersurface of the upper right-side edge of shoe upper 104 is provided withthe mating element 125 (shown in outline only because it ordinarilywould not be visible in the illustrated view).

Once attachment-point strips 120 and 130 have been attached in thismanner, strap 110 is threaded through the various slots 122, with anchor112 securing the proximal end of strap 110 against one of the slots 122.As a result, not only are the attachment-point strips 120 and 130 fullyremovable and replaceable, but strap 110 also may be independentlyremoved and/or replaced.

Additional Considerations.

Several different embodiments of the present invention are describedabove, with each such embodiment described as including certainfeatures. However, it is intended that the features described inconnection with the discussion of any single embodiment are not limitedto that embodiment but may be included and/or arranged in variouscombinations in any of the other embodiments as well, as will beunderstood by those skilled in the art.

Similarly, in the discussion above, functionality sometimes is ascribedto a particular module or component. However, functionality generallymay be redistributed as desired among any different modules orcomponents, in some cases completely obviating the need for a particularcomponent or module and/or requiring the addition of new components ormodules. The precise distribution of functionality preferably is madeaccording to known engineering tradeoffs, with reference to the specificembodiment of the invention, as will be understood by those skilled inthe art.

Thus, although the present invention has been described in detail withregard to the exemplary embodiments thereof and accompanying drawings,it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousadaptations and modifications of the present invention may beaccomplished without departing from the spirit and the scope of theinvention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited to the preciseembodiments shown in the drawings and described above. Rather, it isintended that all such variations not departing from the spirit of theinvention be considered as within the scope thereof as limited solely bythe claims appended hereto.

1. An item of footwear, comprising: a sole; and an upper attached to thesole, wherein the upper includes a left strip and a right strip, eachhaving at least one attachment point for use in tightening the upper,and wherein the entire left strip and the entire right strip can bequickly and easily detached from and reattached to the upper.
 2. An itemof footwear according to claim 1, wherein each of the left strip and theright strip is attached to the upper with a zipper.
 3. An item offootwear according to claim 1, wherein each of the left strip and theright strip is attached to the upper using high-density hook-and-loopfastening elements.
 4. An item of footwear according to claim 1, whereineach of the left strip and the right strip includes at least threeattachment points.
 5. An item of footwear according to claim 1, whereinthe attachment points comprise eyelets through which a shoe lace isthreaded.
 6. An item of footwear according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a second left strip that has a different design than, but isinterchangeable with, the left strip; and a second right strip that hasa different design than, but is interchangeable with, the right strip.7. An item of footwear according to claim 1, wherein the attachmentpoints comprise hooks.
 8. An item of footwear according to claim 1,wherein the attachment points comprise slots through which an attachmentstrap is threaded.
 9. An item of footwear according to claim 1, whereinthe left strip and the right strip are attached together in a unitarypiece.
 10. An item of footwear, comprising: a sole; and an upperattached to the sole, wherein the upper includes a left strip and aright strip, each having at least one attachment point for use intightening the upper and also includes attachment means for quickly andeasily detaching the entire left strip and right strip from, andreattaching the entire left strip and right strip to, the upper.
 11. Anitem of footwear according to claim 10, wherein the attachment meanscomprises a zipper.
 12. An item of footwear according to claim 10,wherein the attachment means comprises high-density hook-and-loopfastening elements.
 13. An item of footwear according to claim 10,wherein each of the left strip and the right strip includes at leastthree attachment points.
 14. An item of footwear according to claim 10,wherein the attachment points comprise eyelets through which a shoe laceis threaded.
 15. An item of footwear according to claim 10, furthercomprising: a second left strip that has a different design than, but isinterchangeable with, the left strip; and a second right strip that hasa different design than, but is interchangeable with, the right strip.16. An item of footwear according to claim 10, wherein the attachmentpoints comprise at least one of (i) hooks and (ii) slots through whichan attachment strap is threaded.
 17. An item of footwear, comprising: asole; and an upper attached to the sole, wherein the upper includes astrip having a plurality of attachment points for lacing the upper,wherein the entire strip can be quickly and easily detached from andreattached to the upper, and wherein the strip is attached to the upperusing at least one of a zipper and high-density hook-and-loop fasteningelements.
 18. An item of footwear according to claim 17, wherein thestrip is attached to the upper using a zipper.
 19. An item of footwearaccording to claim 17, further comprising a second strip that has adifferent design than, but is interchangeable with, the strip.
 20. Anitem of footwear according to claim 17, wherein the strip includesleft-side and right-side strips, each having at least one attachmentpoint.